


Growing Shadows, Expanding Flames

by LifezVictory



Series: Shadow Sisters [1]
Category: Little Nightmares (Video Game)
Genre: Abused Shadow Six (Little Nightmares), Alternate Universe, Angst, Child Abuse, Disownment of parents, Gen, Non-Graphic Violence, Oneshot, Origin Story, Prequel, Shadow Sisters AU (Little Nightmares), The Lady (Little Nightmares) is a bad mother
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:21:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26327812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LifezVictory/pseuds/LifezVictory
Summary: Origin story for Triple, AKA Shadow Six. You wouldn’t expect loneliness to make you do something bad, but throw in a corrupted soul or two and a daughter who pretty much disowns you, and hoo boy! You’ve got a recipe for disaster.
Relationships: The Lady & Shadow Six (Little Nightmares), The Lady & Six (Little Nightmares)
Series: Shadow Sisters [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1901089
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32
Collections: The Gen Sub Hub





	Growing Shadows, Expanding Flames

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Engelsoft](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Engelsoft/gifts).



The Lady was a wreck. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but she couldn't deny that it was true. No amount of aged corrupt souls could lighten her mood. Her appetite was nearly nonexistent, and her slumber was wrought with nightmares of what had happened **that day.**

"Mom! I don't... I can't... why would you do this!?"

"Six, sweetie, I know it seems bad, but I **need** this. And anyway, I only eat the souls of the corrupted."

"But you feed them children! Children Mom, **children!** ... Like me." The last part was said so softly that The Lady could barely hear it. She reached forward to take her daughter in her arms, but she flinched away.

"Six, I would **never** do that to you! Why would you think such a thing?"

Six's face flashed through at least a hundred expressions within the span of a second, before going completely blank. "I don't know what to think anymore." She said in a monotone. "I don't know who you are anymore. ... I'm sorry, but I can't just go on like everything's normal when... when you're... while you're **doing this."** Then she turned away, as if to leave.

Never had The Lady thought it a possibility for a parent to be disowned by a child. Soon, rage was bubbling from deep within her, as well as dark magic that had been carefully fed throughout the last few days. Strong, inescapable shadows snaked firmly around her ex-daughter's thin body, their shimmering darkness blotting out the cheery brightness of her oversized yellow raincoat. But Six did not scream. She did not cry, or beg for mercy as so many children before her had done. Instead, her face remained that same, stoic blank. Her curiosity getting the better of her, The Lady used a smaller bit of shadow to lift the girl's bangs, which had gotten a bit too long due to her not having time to cut them before departing for The Maw. Those big brown eyes which she adored so dearly were filled with nothing but a cold, begrudging acceptance. The Lady then realized that of course Six expected death to follow her words. _It's what she thinks of me now, after all._

So she couldn't kill the girl, daughter or not. But The Lady, much to her surprise, agreed with Six's prior words. She could not continue as normal after this. So then, what was there to do? Turning her into a nome didn't seem right, though she wasn't sure why. And she couldn't send her to the kitchens as she had just said she wouldn't do that no more than ten seconds ago. So what to do? A few moments of thought and The Lady had a plan.

She began humming a slow spell, similar to the one she used to keep all her Guests in line, but a bit different. Using this melody, The Lady began extracting all memory of the last few days and the incidents that occurred during them. At least, that's what she had **meant** to do. In actuality, she fell into the addicting floe that spellcasters tend to let themselves drown in when they're emotionally exhausted. The Lady just kept taking and taking until there was nothing left to steal. Her daughter was left as a memoryless shell of the girl she once was, and had passed out from the strain of her mind being ravaged.

 _I did this to her._ The Lady thought gravely as she gazed upon her unconscious child. Unable to look upon her any longer, she summoned The Janitor. "Send her to The Depths, as far down as you can safely take her. If she tries to escape... **deal with her."**

"Yes, ma'am."

Once the duo were out of sight, the Lady sighed. It was half a sigh of relief, and half something else that she couldn't name. _It's out of my hands now._ She thought neutrally. _If she is slaughtered by one of the creatures living down there, well it's hardly my fault. Or perhaps she will find her way back to me, and be able to accept things for the way they are._ ... Why did those thoughts sound empty to her own mind?

* * *

She awoke once again, not in a cold sweat or with a pounding heart like what is normal with nightmares, but a cold, lonely emptiness. How long had it been since that had happened? Days? Weeks? Months? All this time and no sign of the raincoated child. Either the strain on her mind was greater than The Lady had originally thought or...

The Lady yanked the covers off of herself, storming into the main area of her quarters. She couldn't do this anymore! Something needed to change! Something had to happen! ... But what? Perhaps... perhaps she could create a replacement? A new daughter who would love her unconditionally, and accept things for the way they were? Maybe then those cursed dreams would leave her be. With her mind made up, The Lady got dressed and made her way to her personal library. It was filled with information on countless spells and curses, so surely she could find some information to aid her in doing this.

The Lady assumed that a spell like the one she wanted was similar to the one she used to create the childlike masked entities who guarded her residence, so she decided to start in the book she found that one in. Sure enough, she found what she needed.

The Lady had mixed emotions as she began preparing to cast the spell. There was a tiny voice inside her mind begging her to see that this wasn't right, that this would do more harm than gd.

With a great amount of effort, she silenced it. As she hummed the incantation, The Lady focused with all her might on the positive memories she'd had with Six.

When she found that yellow raincoat she loved so much, and refused to take it off for just about any occasion.

When she learned a cheery and hopeful song, and could be heard humming it almost every day.

When The Lady started homeschooling her to keep her away from the mess the corruption was causing at schools, and she learned her letters and numbers. Six was a very smart child, and caught on almost immediately.

As she continued to hum and focus all her energy into the spell, dark particles began steadily flowing from her fingertips. She raised her hands in a practiced motion, allowing the darkness to arch across the room, where it piled on top of itself, slowly taking the shape of a small dark figure. Its outline rippled and pulsed as though it was underwater, but it was gradually becoming more and more stable, more and more solid.

Moments later when The Lady had finished the spell, she opened her eyes and her gaze fell upon her new creation. She... was far from perfect. Though she resembled Six a lot, she was entirely made out of dark shadow. She would never see that beautiful yellow raincoat again. But she pushed down her sadness. This was a time for joy. She had a daughter again. And this one would be perfect.

"...Six?"

"Hello, Mother."

* * *

Hearing her mother enter the room, **she** closed the book she was reading. **She** wasn't sure what Mother would think of her reading one of her spellbooks, so decided not to let her see. "Hello, Mother." She greeted softly. "Are you going to go tend to The Guests again?"

"Yes, Six." **She** did her best to hide a grimace. She always got uncomfortable when her mother referred to her with **that name.** So much so that she couldn't quite bring herself to refer to herself with it in her mind. She wasn't sure why it bothered her so much, but it was definitely more than the fact that it was basically just a number. It was almost like Mother wasn't actually talking to **her** when she called her that.

"I just wanted to make sure you didn't need anything before I left." Her mother continued, bringing **her** out of her troubled thoughts.

"No Mother, I'm alright." She responded simply.

"Alright." Strange, Mother seemed a bit... disappointed. **She** pondered what she could have done wrong, but couldn't think of anything she could have done differently. "Well, I'll be back shortly. I love you." She paused for a moment, as if waiting for **her** to say something. When **she** didn't, she turned slowly and headed for the elevator.

 _Mother is very strange._ She thought to herself as she returned to her book. _I wish she would just tell me what she expects from me instead of assuming I'll know._

* * *

 **She** and Mother sat together after an afternoon of Mother tending guests and making sure all her workers were doing what they were supposed to do. "Six," she began, eliciting uncomfortable feelings from **her** once again. "Are you sure you're alright with this?"

 _No!_ She mentally yelled. _No I am not alright with this, Mother! I want you to tell me why things feel so strange and wrong!_ But that's not what she ended up saying. Instead she asked, "Alright with what, Mother?"

"You know... my line of work."

 **She** didn't know how to respond. In all honesty, she never really thought about it. It was simply a constant, the way things were. Like the sky being blue or people needing to eat too survive. Eventually she settled with. "It's the way things are. And... I'm sure you have your reasons for it, Mother."

The Lady nodded, smiling slightly. "That I do."

* * *

"Six, do you remember the time we went to the beach together after your lessons?"

She blinked. "No, Mother."

As fast as lightning The Lady was out of her chair and staring directly into **her** eyes, inches away. "Yes. Yes, you **do."** Her voice was in between pleasantly casual and low and angry. To say it was unnerving was an understatement. "It was a year ago. We went during one of the last days of summer. We built sand castles. We played in the ocean. We had **fun."**

 **She** was paralyzed with an emotion she had never quite felt before. It caused a strange pounding noise to echo in her ears, and her body to tremble. _Mother has gotten frustrated with me before, but this?_

"M-Mother," She hated how her voice quavered, but stayed firm. "Y-you must be mistaken. I h-haven't been around for years yet, you must have confused me for... **someone else."**

That couldn't have been Mother who let out a screech so loud that it could be heard all over The Maw. That couldn't have been Mother whose magic went completely through her face, shredding her body from the inside. It couldn't have been Mother, and yet... it was. But which one was her real mother? The kind and caring if a bit strange version, or this one? Could it be that they were one and the same? But how?

What she felt couldn't exactly be described as pain, but a sharp tingling sensation that very well neared it. Once she had reformed and was completely solid once again (The Lady had made sure to make her quite resilient) she could see that her moth—... **The Lady** was on her knees, breathing erratically. "S-Six... I—"

"Mother! I don't... I can't... why would you do this!?"

The Lady froze. Immediately. As if someone had flipped a switch. **She** didn't realize it was possible for The Lady to grow paler than she already was until that very moment. But that didn't matter. Not right now. Now, she was going to say everything she had been holding herself back from saying.

"If you had just **told me** what you expected of me, and what I was doing wrong, than maybe this wouldn't have happened! Or maybe not, because I could never get rid of the feeling that something's off ever since you made me! Well, now I've had enough! No more pretending to be happy, no more pretending like you're a good mother!"

**"Six!"**

**"STOP CALLING ME THAT!"** She roared, sending a huge wave of shadow from her body which shoved The Lady against the far wall.

"Y-you've... been reading my books," she stuttered weakly. "You could have never... learned to do that otherwise."

 **She** didn't answer. She didn't acknowledge that the woman had spoken in any way. She simply turned away, and walked out of the room.

* * *

 **She ran away.** She left behind a corrupted and broken woman who had been disowned by yet another daughter. This was beyond her knowledge, though. All she knew was that she was free from The Lady's control at last. She had explored every inch of The Maw she could get to, learning each and every one of its secrets. Everything that The Lady had kept from her for all this time. She was never seen, as The Maw was filled with shadows she could hide in. Eventually she came upon The Prison, where she discovered just what The Lady was feeding her Guests. Let's just say that she now understood why she had kept that a secret from her. She had scratched off interacting with the children there when the first one that saw her... well... did something that they probably wouldn't want the whole world to know about. **She** couldn't understand why they'd had such a reaction, after all from what she'd seen, she was one of the tamer beings here as far as looks were concerned. But at this point she took fact as fact, and dismissed the idea. But she still felt that there was something in this area that she was missing, something she needed to find.

And find it, she did. After following a passage she hadn't seen before. Beyond that was an unremarkable space, filled with canned food, a bucket, and... a very large suitcase. But that wasn't the thing that made her mouth hang open and her blood run cold. No, it was what, or rather **who** was in the suitcase that did that.

It was a child, a girl. She had bare feet and bangs that hid the top of her face like all the other children she'd seen. She was extremely pale and thin, looking as though she hadn't seen the sun or had a bite to eat for weeks. Covering her malnourished form was an oversized, bright yellow raincoat. Besides the color, it looked completely identical to the one made of shadow that **she** always wore.

The resemblances were uncanny, and there were much too many of them for them to be purely coincidental. The longer she gazed upon the child, who seemed to be in a magically induced coma of some kind, the more something poked at the back of her mind. Something she had refused to think about since she had left The Lady. Something that caused all the pieces to fit neatly into place.

"Six." She whispered, saying the name out loud for the first time. Because that's who this was, **she** was sure of it. This was Six, The Lady's real daughter. _The one I was meant to replace._ She realized in anger. _But maybe... maybe I should. But not for her. For me._

With her mind made up, she turned away from the sleeping child, heading back to a place she never thought she would go. She had some research to do.


End file.
